Types of Solid Wood Flooring

If you are looking to buy a solid wood floor, you are sure to be both pleased and confused by the wide array of choices available. All wooden floors are a natural, beautiful addition to your home that will enhance the value of your house a give you pleasure for many years to come.

But what type should you choose? There are a variety of styles and material types available for homeowners to choose from. Which you choose depends on your unique needs and preferences.

There are three different styles of solid wood floors

Tongue and grooved, Square edged and finally Parquet. They are all made from Solid wood but are machined into different formats which are:

Tongue and grooved: Planks/strips with edges that have been machined to have a tongue and groove interlock that makes installation easier. Life of the floor is down to the tongue usually 8mm.

Square edged: Planks/strips with no tongue and groove, not as easy to install but will last forever as it can be sanded all the way down. Is available in very wide widths and in greater thicknesses. Was the original form of wooden flooring but has in most cases been replaced by tongue and groove boards, due to the extra costs involved in installation.

Parquet floors are smaller blocks of wood fitted into a decorative pattern. Either machined with tongue and groove edges or is sold in panels which have been factory made with a mesh or paper backing.

All of these styles are available in a huge variety of widths, lengths and grades

Strip flooring is the narrower widths normally about 57mm to 110mm whereas Plank Flooring is from110mm to 260mm.

The width and length will affect the overall look of your floor. Having too many narrow boards in a small room can make the room look to busy and even smaller, whereas getting the right width can make the room look bigger.

Invariably the narrower and shorter the boards the cheaper they are as they can be cut from smaller logs. Likewise the grade affects the price as the better the grade the more expensive as these have to be selected from the best logs available.

There are numerous choices of timber for solid wood flooring.

Bamboo is a popular choice because it is ecologically friendly and durable. Oak is one of the hardest and most popular woods and has a clean, smooth finish. Walnut burl has a distinctive design that will draw comments from everyone who sees it, but it is also very expensive. Pine, while softer than many other woods, is a popular choice because of its depth and beauty.

Other woods include Maple and Beech both light in colour and often associated with contemporary homes. Elm although harder to get is a stunning floor with a very unique grain. These are the most popular but the list is endless like Jatoba, Merbau, Wenge, Cherry, Ash, Kempas, Iroko, Hevea, Teak etc

The type of floor you ultimately choose will depend on which room of the house you are remodeling and your lifestyle.

Whatever types of solid wood floor you choose, you can rest easy knowing that your choice will a beautiful, well loved part of your home for years to come.

There are plenty of other things to take into consideration so please read our page on the advantages and disadvantages of solid wood flooring.

Engineered Wood

Customer Feedback

The work was carried out with exceptional care and attention to detail. The floor was laid quickly and with no mess. The quality of the floor has transformed the room.

– G. Ajimer

We are so delighted with our new floor. The engineered floor looks fantastic and the fitting is so precise. The attention to detail around fiddly corners and steps adds a whole dimension quality look and feel to the room.